1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a test socket including an electrode supporting portion and a method of manufacturing the test socket, and more particularly, to a test socket including an electrode supporting portion that firmly supports an electrode portion and also allows independent movement of a plurality of electrodes, and a method of manufacturing the test socket.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, to test electrical characteristics of a subject device, the subject device and an inspection device have to be stably electrically connected. As a unit for connecting a subject device and an inspection device, a test socket is typically used.
The function of the test socket is to connect a terminal of a subject device and a pad of an inspection device so as to allow two-way exchange of an electrical signal. To this end, as a contacting unit used inside the test socket, an elastic conductive sheet or a pogo pin is used. An elastic conductive sheet is used to bring an elastic conductive portion into contact with a terminal of a subject device, and a pogo pin includes a spring so as to make connection between a subject device and an inspection device easy and buffer mechanical impact that may occur in the connection, and thus an elastic conductive sheet or a pogo pin is used in most test sockets.
However, due to frequent contacts with respect to a terminal of a subject device that requires electrical connection, an upper portion of a conductive portion of the elastic conductive sheet may be easily damaged. That is, the conductive portion, in which a plurality of conductive particles are arranged in a soft silicon rubber, is frequently in contact with the terminal of the subject device, which is formed of a metal, and thus, the silicon rubber may be easily damaged. Consequently, the conductive particles arranged in the conductive portion may detach from the conductive portion to thereby degrade the entire conductivity of the elastic conductive sheet.
In order to solve this problem, KR 2008-59260 discloses a technique of arranging an insulating sheet on an elastic conductive sheet. Here, an electrode is formed at a portion in the insulating sheet corresponding to a conductive portion of the elastic conductive sheet, and a terminal of a subject device contacts this electrode, so as to minimize damage of the conductive portion. However, a test socket according to the conventional art has the following drawbacks.
First, electrodes that are confined in the insulating sheet are not able to freely move in a vertical direction. That is, each of the electrodes is connected to the insulating sheet, and thus positions of adjacent electrodes are interfered so that each electrode may not move independently. If movement of the electrodes is restricted as described above, and if heights of terminals of a subject device vary to some extent, the difference in the heights of the terminals may not be balanced so that the terminals and the electrodes may not contact each other properly.
In addition, since each electrode is fixed only on the insulating sheet, there is also a probability that the electrodes may detach from the insulating sheet when they are brought into contact with the terminals of the subject device.